IDW Publishing

Idea and Design Works (IDW) was formed in 1999 by a group of comic book managers and artists that met at Wildstorm Productions included Ted Adams, Robbie Robbins, Alex Garner, and Kris Oprisko for an outsource art and graphic design firm. Each of the four was equal partners, owning 25%. With Wildstorm owner Jim Lee selling to DC Comics in 1999, Lee turned that company's creative service department, previously run by Adams, clients over to IDW allowing IDW to be profitable its first year. With these profits, the firm decided to fund a new venture every year.

In 2000, they developed a TV show concept, getting as far as a pilot episode. For 2001's project, Adams's Ashley Wood talked to them about publishing an art book, thus starting up IDW Publishing. Una Fanta was published in March 2002. Woods had Steve Niles send Adams some of his rejected screenplays. Adams selected one, 30 Days of Night, and paired him with artist Ben Templesmith for a comic adaptation as a three issue series, beginning in August 2002. With low pre-orders, Adams personally pushed the comic with the distributor and major comic book stores. Soon the title's back issue were hot and were followed up with Wood's Popbot.[4]

In 2007, IDT Corporation purchased a 53% majority interest in IDW from the company's founders, removing Garner & Oprisko, while reducing Adams & Robbins to minority owners collectively at 47%. Then, in 2009, IDT proceeded to increase its interest to the current 76%, reducing Adams & Robbins's interest once again to the current 24%. Then, shortly afterwards, IDT created CTM Media Holdings via a tax-free spin-off. This new company consisted of the majority interest in IDW and CTM Media Group.[5] Eight years later, on April 3, 2015, CTM Media Holdings announced it would continue operations under a new name, becoming IDW Media Holdings, which would continue to consist of the majority interest in IDW and CTM Media Group.[6]

The company's first traditional comic series, 30 Days of Night, created by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith started a seven-figure bidding war between DreamWorks, MGM, and Senator International, with Senator winning and Sam Raimi attached to produce.[7][8]

IDW Publishing's second title, Popbot, won two Gold Spectrum Awards.[9]

IDW Publishing also publishes comics based on the TV franchises Star Trek and CSI. The company's other licensed comics include Topps' Mars Attacks, Sony's Underworld, FX' The Shield, Fox' 24,[10] and Angel; Universal’s Land of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead; and Konami’s Silent Hill,[11] Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid, and Speed Racer. The company has also had success with comic license from toy company Hasbro brands: The Transformers (with Takara), G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, and Jem. Transformers has had as many as five different titles running concurrently.

Beginning in 2008, the company licensed the Doctor Who series from the BBC, launching two concurrent titles: Doctor Who Classics, which reprints colorized comic strips featuring the past Doctors such as the Fourth Doctor and Fifth Doctor originally published in the late 1970s-early 1980s by Doctor Who Magazine, and Doctor Who: Agent Provocateur, an original six-part limited series featuring the Tenth Doctor and overseen and written by TV series script editor Gary Russell. An additional six-part limited series titled Doctor Who: The Forgotten started in mid-2008 by Tony Lee and Pia Guerra,[12][13] as well as a series of monthly one-shot, self-contained stories. July 2009 saw the beginning of Doctor Who, an ongoing series featuring the Tenth Doctor, written by Tony Lee and illustrated by a rotating art team.[14]

IDW Publishing acquired the G.I. Joe comics license in May 2008 (previously held by Devil's Due Publishing) and released three new series under editor Andy Schmidt,[15] from writers such as Chuck Dixon, Larry Hama, and Christos Gage. Other comics were released in time to tie-in with the summer 2009 G.I. Joe film.[16][17]

In March 2009, IDW Publishing forged an agreement with Mike Gold's Comicmix.com to publish print versions of Comicmix's online comic books. The agreement stipulates Comicmix must provide two comic books a month to IDW Publishing to publish, as well as graphic novels and trade paperbacks as demanded by the market. The books are published with both the IDW Publishing and Comicmix.com logos on the covers. As of the end of 2009, the agreement has produced print versions of the Grimjack series The Manx Cat; the Jon Sable series Ashes of Eden; Mark Wheatley and Robert Tinnell's pulp hero series Lone Justice; the graphic novel Demons of Sherwood by Tinnell and Bo Hampton; and a graphic novel collecting Trevor Von Eeden's The Original Johnson. A collection of Munden's Bar stories original to Comicmix's website is also forthcoming.[18]

In 2004, 2005, and 2006 IDW Publishing was named Publisher of the Year by Diamond Comic Distributors.[19]

The IDW "Creator Visions" panel at the 2013 New York Comic Con. From left to right: writers Sidney Friedfertig, Gary Gerani, Adadsam Knave, Dan Goldman, M. Zachary Sherman, Jeff Kline, and Jason Enright. At the podium is IDW Vice President of Marketing Dirk Wood.

In 2010, IDW Publishing released the sequel to Michael San Giacomo's "Phantom Jack" Image Comics series with "Phantom Jack: The Nowhere Man Agenda." The graphic novel is notable because it features the death of the main character, a reporter who can turn invisible.

IDW Publishing formed an imprint with EA Games in late 2009, called EA Comics, to focus on adaptations of the latter's video games, with initial titles including Army of Two and Dragon Age.[20]

In January 2011, IDW Publishing announced a new Dungeons & Dragons comic series, under license from Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast. Set in the D&D 4th Edition core setting, the new ongoing series Dungeons & Dragons (Fell's Five) ran for 16 issues. Several mini-series were also published including The Legend of Drizzt: Neverwinter Tales written by R.A. Salvatore.[21] Since 2014, five five-issue mini-series have been published in the D&D 5th Edition core setting.[22] A sixth five-issue mini-series, Infernal Tide, is set to be published in November 2019.[23]

September 6, 2011, for the 10th anniversary of 9/11, IDW Publishing teamed up Charlie Foxtrot Entertainment and released the graphic novel Code Word: Geronimo, written by retired Marine Corps Captain Dale Dye and Julia Dye, drawn by Gerry Kissell with inker Amin Amat.[24] Code Word: Geronimo reached #22 on Diamond Comics top 100 list its first month after release.[25] During that same year, the company has published its first crossover series Infestation.[26]

In March 2012 IDW Publishing announced it would release new comics based on Judge Dredd and The Crow.[27] Also in 2012, Hasbro licensed the use of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic for an IDW comic book series. The company also published Infestation 2.[28]

In February 2013, IDW Publishing announced a partnership with Cartoon Network to publish comics based on the network's television series and reprint older Cartoon Network comics.[29]

On January 6, 2015, IDW Publishing announced it had acquired Top Shelf Productions.[30]

In February 2015, it was announced that IDW Publishing made a deal with Disney to continue the publication of the following comic books: Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Walt Disney's Comics and Stories.[31]

In 2016, IDW launched the Hasbro Reconstruction initiative to present a shared universe of Hasbro brands, which was later known as the Hasbro Comic Book Universe. The first event was Revolution, followed by First Strike on 2017.[32]

In July 2017, Sega announced a partnership with IDW to publish comics based on Sonic the Hedgehog beginning in 2018, following the conclusion/cancellation of the previous series by Archie Comics.[33][34] IDW has also launched new imprint called Black Crown, handling creator-owned comics.[35]

In April 2018, publishers IDW Publishing and Oni Press announced a crossover between the Rick and Morty comic book and Dungeons & Dragons co-written by Jim Zub and Patrick Rothfuss with art by Troy Little.[36] The four issue mini-series, Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons, was first published in August 2018.[37] In May 2019, a sequel mini-series was announced: Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons: Chapter II: Painscape. It will be written by Jim Zub and Sarah Stern with art by Troy Little.[38][39]

In 2019, the company went under financial difficulties and got help from JPMorgan Chase evaluating strategies to be profitable.[40]

In May 2019, IDW offered itself as an investor in Clover Press, a new independent publisher founded by Ted Adams (cofounder and former CEO of IDW) and Robbie Robbins (cofounder, executive vice president and art director at IDW).[41][42]

In July 2019, it was announced that IDW Publishing had acquired the classic Sunday strip publisher Sunday Press Books.[43]

Between April and May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, IDW was forced to furlough and then layoff several employees, including Managing Editor Denton Tipton, Associate Publisher David Hedgecock, Senior Graphic Artist Gilberto Lazcano, Senior Graphic Designer Christa Miesner and Brand & Marketing Manager Spencer Reeve.[44]

• Blue Dream Studios[45]
• EA Comics
• The Library of American Comics
• Sunday Press Books[43]
• Top Shelf Productions
• Worthwhile Books[46]
• Yoe! Books

• Black Crown

• Clover Press[41][42]

• In June 2012, Deadline reported that Hideo Nakata will direct the film adaptation of The Suicide Forest for Vertigo Entertainment.[52]
• USA Network announced a pilot for Brooklyn Animal Control produced by David Goyer.[53][54]
• Paramount Pictures has an option on the Steve Niles/IDW Publishing property Aleister Arcane.[55] In June 2016, Variety reported that Jim Carrey will star in Eli Roth's film adaptation of Aleister Arcane for Amblin Entertainment.[56]
• Darkness Visible by Mike Carey is being developed as a TV series[57]